Project Pure, a multimillion-dollar wastewater treatment facility near Wanaka Airport, has been temporarily shut down because of fears that treated sewage and wastewater could invade neighbouring properties.
QLDC wastewater project manager Martin O'Malley said the new $21 million plant had experienced mechanical difficulties during the Christmas and New Year period.
The difficulties were not unexpected, given the plant was still involved in an initial commissioning phase, he said.
The operational commissioning of Project Pure to "streamline the [wastewater] treatment process" began in November and will continue until mid-February.
"We would generally expect there would be one or two problems to iron out over this commissioning phase," Mr O'Malley said.
Wastewater flow has been directed to the Ballantyne Rd oxidation ponds in Wanaka and the Albert Town pond system.
The Project Pure control system had malfunctioned on Saturday night and the plant's disposal field system had failed.
Operations were shut down when a plant operator noticed an increased level of localised ponding.
"We needed to act quickly to avoid the possibility of treated wastewater entering any neighbouring properties," Mr O'Malley said.
Project Pure has been running at less than 50% capacity during a "peak flow" period, while Wanaka has been inundated with holidaymakers.
The reduced operational capacity was caused by a delay in getting spare parts for the plant over the holiday break, he said.
The wastewater treatment plant is isolated from neighbouring properties and separated by fields of open paddocks and pasture.
The council and the Project Pure design team were working closely together to get the plant operational as soon as possible, Mr O'Malley said.
Neighbouring property owner Nikki Heath said she was not overly concerned at the plant's malfunction, when spoken to by the Otago Daily Times yesterday.
